Short answer. No. Article 644 says the easement of aqueduct for private interest cannot be imposed on buildings, courtyards, annexes, or outhouses, or on orchards or gardens that already exist. A neighbor cannot force a private water conduit across your existing garden or courtyard; those spaces are protected from this compulsory easement.
What the law says
The easement of aqueduct for private interest cannot be imposed on buildings, courtyards, annexes, or outhouses, or on orchards or gardens already existing.
Civil Code, Article 644 — Where the Aqueduct Cannot Be Imposed. Read the full provision →
What the easement of aqueduct is
An easement of aqueduct lets one landowner carry water through another's land, typically for irrigation or similar private use. Because it can be a compulsory or legal easement, a person needing to convey water may in the right circumstances impose it on a neighbouring estate against the owner's wishes, subject to indemnity and to the conditions the law sets. Article 644 marks out an important boundary on that power, listing places where such an aqueduct for private interest simply may not be forced through, no matter the need of the person seeking it.
The protected spaces
The article states that the easement of aqueduct for private interest cannot be imposed on buildings, courtyards, annexes, or outhouses, or on orchards or gardens already existing. These are the more intimate and improved parts of a property, the structures a person lives and works in and the cultivated spaces immediately serving them. The law shields them from being cut through by a neighbour's private water conduit. So a landowner asked to host such an aqueduct can point to this provision to keep it away from his house, yard, outbuildings, and established orchards or gardens.
Why existing improvements matter
The word already existing is significant. The protection is for gardens and orchards that are in place, not for bare or unimproved land the owner might one day cultivate. The rationale is that running a private aqueduct through an established garden, courtyard, or building would cause serious and often irreparable disruption to spaces the owner has already developed and relies upon. By confining the compulsory aqueduct away from these areas, the law balances the water-seeker's need against the heavy prejudice that forcing a conduit through improved property would inflict.
What this means in a dispute
If a neighbour seeks to run a private aqueduct across your land, the first question is where it would pass. It cannot be imposed on your buildings, courtyards, annexes, outhouses, or your existing orchards and gardens; the neighbour must route it through land not so protected. For the person needing the water, the practical consequence is that the easement, where available at all, has to avoid these areas, which may require a longer or less convenient path. Article 644 does not deny the easement everywhere, but it firmly keeps it out of a property's developed and inhabited spaces.